Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn't linger around the human cities for much longer after Yan Ling set Liang Chen straight, heading back to Claw Valley city. He calmed down a little after realizing his thoughts had been wrong, allowing Yan Ling to tell him something he hadn't thought about yet, there was nothing he could do right now.
Even if he did kill the ones guarding the human cities and helped free those he deemed worthy of saving, what then? They had no homes they could go to, no organizations where they could seek shelter. All the races on this planet were against them, and neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling owned a mobile abode, a portable house that could grow or shrink as they pleased. The moment these people were freed, they would be forced to flee for the rest of their lives. Freeing them now was not saving them, it was dooming them to a life of fleeing and pain. Right here, right now, the best course of action was to do absolutely nothing.
They returned to Claw Valley city using the darkness of the night as their cover, scaling the walls of the inn and entering their room through the window they had left open. After entering the room again, Yan Ling removed the gray robe and let out a yawn and then jumped onto the bed, taking on a perfect diving posture. She cuddled up against the pillows, letting out another yawn as she addressed Liang Chen.
"Alright, I'm gonna tuck myself in real nice and tight. Little Freak, try anything funny during the night and I might just savage your junior."
She knew that there was no way Liang Chen would ever try anything on her while she was asleep, she mostly said it to tease him and to somewhat lighten up the mood. After all, they were on a planet where practically all the other races were against them, it was important to keep their mood bright and cheery. Liang Chen put away his own robe, sweeping Yan Ling's body with a quick glance before letting out a snort.
"No need to worry, I wouldn't try anything on someone as childlike as you, I prefer my women more developed. Maybe I should head out and see if I can find someone like that."
Liang Chen was always willing to play along when Yan Ling felt in a teasing mood, so he, of course, had to fire back with something in the same style as her. Yan Ling cast a stealthy glance at her own rather modest chest but then copied Liang Chen and let out a snort.
"Hah, as if you could get anyone else to fall in love with you. With your personality, only someone as mentally deficient as me could fall in love with you. So whether or not you like it, you're stuck with me for the rest of your life."
Liang Chen couldn't stop himself from letting out a light laughter upon hearing her words, which could be considered an insult to both of them. Liang Chen walked over to one of the couches in the room, sitting down and taking out some spicy wine before responding to Yan Ling.
"You know, I fell like that statement can be turned right back at you."
The two of them were rather similar, both had suffered in similar ways, and while they had dealt with their suffering in different manners, it had still left its marks on them. Both of them were forever scarred and changed by the events of their past, and it was these scars that had drawn the two of them together, forever linking them together.
There was no response to Liang Chen's words so he cast his gaze away from the jug of wine and onto Yan Ling, who had fallen asleep while he was sitting down on the couch. His expression softened into a gentle smile as he raised the glass of wine, whispering softly.
"Goodnight Ling'er, sweet dreams."
Liang Chen didn't need to sleep ever since his bloodline awakened. He could sleep if he wished to, but whenever he did he would relive the execution of his parents, so he hadn't slept for quite some time already. Liang Chen passed the night away in silence, drinking some wine as he watched over the sleeping Yan Ling and continued to think about various ways he could improve his body and soul cultivation techniques.
He might get his hands on the other fragments of the Lightning God Physique, but he still continued to ponder over various paths he could take to improve his body cultivation until then. As of right now, he hadn't come up with anything specific, but he had come up with an idea he felt plausible after they entered the Myriad Convergence.
On their way to the Fiend King's Tomb, they had passed through a stone forest that was filled with boulders made of crystals that contained concentrated lightning energy. Liang Chen had taken several of these boulders and stored them into his interspatial ring, saving them for his future cultivation. These boulders were almost like Lightning Quartz, concentrated lightning energy that had become so dense that it had crystallized.
After seeing these, he couldn't help but wonder, couldn't he just turn his bones into this material? It would follow the principle of the Lightning God Physique, changing the entire body into lightning, but it would also allow his bones to become extraordinarily strong. He was still working on how exactly he should complete this process, as it differed somewhat from the usual Lightning God Physique technique, so he hadn't actually put it into practice yet.
Time continued to pass after Liang Chen and Yan Ling finished their scouting of the cities where the humans were being reared, the arrival of the Tripartite Ship getting closer and closer. Liang Chen wanted to just stay in the inn and quietly cultivate until the ship arrived, but this decision of his was quickly overruled by Yan Ling, who dragged him out of the inn and started to wander through the city.
This was a completely new planet, there was no telling what sort of new things they might see as they wandered through the city. Yan Ling would never give up a chance like this, so there was nothing Liang Chen could do but follow her around and join her in her sightseeing. It turned out that the races on this planet didn't eat only humans, they also reared normal animals like pigs and cows that they ate. Humans were more like Demonic beasts to them, a type of gourmet food that they could eat to aid in their cultivation.
Liang Chen and Yan Ling tried some of the food that they were certain wasn't human flesh and found that it was surprisingly good. The races of this planet seemed to be rather fond of sweeter tastes, as most of the meat was coated in different types of sauces that ranged from very sweet to a more subtle sweetness. Before they knew it, they had already spent 11 days in Claw Valley city, the Tripartite Ship arriving in the star-shaped city plaza.
The Tripartite Ship looked rather strange, it didn't look like a ship or carriage at all, it looked like a large metallic tiger with wheels hidden inside the paws. The tiger was only around a hundred meters long, but when Liang Chen and Yan Ling stepped through the door located on the waist of the tiger, they entered a red room that was much larger than the tiger.
The room they entered was circular in shape and at least a few kilometers in width and length, far larger than the ship itself. Liang Chen had never seen a ship like this, but Yan Ling explained to him that ships like this existed on their planet as well, they were used by the upper echelons of the sects. They were created in a manner very similar to an interspatial ring, compressing a large area of space into a small location and stabilizing it.
The room was filled with couches, chairs, and tables, providing a seating spot for everyone who might board the ship. There were bedrooms on this ship, but most people simply spent most of their time in this large room, interacting with the other passengers. There were already quite a few people on the ship when Yan Ling and Liang Chen entered it, all of them on their way to the main cities so that they could enter the grand towers.
Liang Chen and Yan Ling found an empty room and grabbed the key for it, reserving it for themselves. It would take this ship about a month to actually reach Ten Thousand Hearts city so Yan Ling wanted to secure a place where she could sleep. After securing a room for themselves, they returned to the large room where most of the other passengers were located. They found themselves a place where they could sit and chat while surveying the room, calmly waiting for the ship to depart.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
After a little less than a day, the Tripartite Ship left Claw Valley city and started its journey to Ten Thousand Hearts city, stopping at a few other cities along the way to pick up a few more passengers. About two weeks after the ship left Claw Valley city, Yan Ling and Liang Chen were approached by a man from the Fiendgod race who waved at them and spoke in a loud tone.
"Yo, the name's Yin Weijing! I and a few others are gonna spar a little before we reach Ten Thousand Hearts city, test our strengths and see where we can improve, ya know? How bout it, wanna join us?"
Yin Weijing had cultivation that lingered between the peak of the Ascended Tower realm and the early stage of the Heaven's Gate realm. If Liang Chen and Yan Ling were to spar with them it would be more like bullying. But it couldn't be helped that he approached them, their cultivation realms seemed to be very similar after all, with Liang Chen at the early stage of the Heaven's Gate realm and Yan Ling at the middle stage. Liang Chen couldn't be bothered to spar with them, but Yan Ling jumped at the opportunity to show off a little.
"I'll join you, but you better not cry when I whoop your ass."
Yan Ling snickered slightly as she spoke, smirking at Yin Weijing. Her words could be taken as sheer arrogance, but she had the right to be that arrogant. With her strength, she could even kill people at the late stage of the Heaven's Gate realm, maybe even someone that had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, she had no need to put people like Yin Weijing in her eyes. Yin Weijing burst into laughter after seeing her demeanor, using his thumb to point at another Fiendgod sitting across the room. This Fiendgod had reached the late stage of the Heaven's Gate realm and was only half a step away from the Soaring Immortal realm.
"Haha, yer confident, I like it! Don't worry about me cryin over a loss, I'll take it like a man and focus on improving. But my Eldest Brother might have something else to say if you beat me, he might make ya cry just to make me feel better about losing."
Yan Ling cast her gaze onto the Fiendgod but didn't seem bothered by Yan Weijing's words. She instead giggled lightly, casting a sideways glance at Liang Chen, who was drinking some wine and watching the two of them with a calm gaze.
"Nihihi, you should advise him against doing so. I don't think you can afford to make me cry."
No one knew better than her just how brutal and savage Liang Chen could be, especially when he was furious. She had only seen his rage, or at least what she believed was his rage, twice before. The first time was when he engaged in a bloody massacre in the Mystic's Hidden Realm, the slaughter which had given him the title Scourge King, and the second time was against Huang Dong, where he put his life on the line just to wound Huang Dong to a point where she could kill him.
She couldn't help but be slightly curious, if they wounded her and made her cry, just how furious would he be? Yin Weijing understood what Yan Ling meant with her words and her glance, his gaze landing on Liang Chen. He inspected him from head to toe, shrugging his shoulders with a carefree laugh.
"Heh, now yer just making me curious. But I'll just take yer word for it, no need to poke a possible hornet's nest."
He couldn't see anything special about Liang Chen, but he knew that looks could be deceiving, the normal looking youth could be far more terrifying than he first appeared. Yan Ling didn't say anything, merely snickering lightly while Liang Chen raised the glass of wine in a casual greeting.
Yan Ling left with Yin Weijing and met up with a few other people from the various races. They cleared up some space at the center of the room, creating a small ring where they could spar to test each other's power. Liang Chen moved a bit closer, observing the battles as they took place.
Just like he expected, Yan Ling was easily able to beat the others, to the point where it truly was nothing more than bullying. She held back a little but was still able to practically mop the floor with them, resulting in her getting quite a few awe-filled looks. Most of the people on this ship had cultivation around the Heaven's Gate realm, with the stronger people already living in the three main cities. On this ship, Yan Ling was indisputably one of the strongest people.
Once all the sparring was over, Yan Ling returned to Liang Chen and sat down next to him, Liang Chen handing her a cup filled with sweetened wine. Yin Weijing also came over, bringing a seat and placing it across of Liang Chen's table, taking out some wine of his own as he started talking.
"Yikes, ya weren't kidding when you said you would whoop my ass, I haven't been beaten like that in quite a while! And this guy's supposed to be stronger than ya? I really wanna spar with you, but if what she said is true, I don't think I'm in yer league. If ya spend some time in Ten Thousand Hearts city, and your strength really is that great, ya might even get the chance to meet the Tripartite Slayer."
Yin Weijing seemed to be a rather casual person. He had just gotten completely dominated by Yan Ling, to the point of not even being able to touch her robes, but he didn't mind it in the slightest. Just seeing the way he acted once again reminded Liang Chen that even though these races ate humans, they were still just normal people. Liang Chen finished his cup of wine and poured some more for himself and Yan Ling, taking the initiative to talk to Yin Weijing.
"The Tripartite Slayer, could you tell me a little about her? We're nomads who have spent quite a bit of time traveling through uninhabited areas, so we are rather lacking in the information department."
Sun Cailin, the Tripartite Slayer. The only person to have ever reached the top rank in all three towers, the overlord of this planet. If Liang Chen wanted to get his hands on the fragment of the Lightning God Physique technique, he might have to fight her at some point. At that time, the more he knew about her the better his odds were. Yin Weijing opened his eyes wide, a rather strange sight since his race had naturally large eyes with red sclera and crimson pupils.
"Ya don't know a lot about the Tripartite Slayer? Ya really ought to pick up a book at times, readin is good for ya. The Tripartite Slayer is the overlord o' this entire planet, strongest and noblest person around. Whenever someone on this planet starts approaching the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realm they always end up leaving to explore the wider universe, but the Tripartite Slayer is on the brink of breaking into the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realm but still remains on this planet. She watches over us and guards the planet, making sure that no harm can come to it. And not only has she almost reached the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realm, but she is also on the verge of reaching the Thousand-Hearts Fiend Emperor realm, having received a special body cultivation technique after becoming the Tripartite Slayer. She's the goal that all cultivators on this planet strive to reach, both in strength and nobility."
Yin Weijing's eyes gleamed as he spoke, admiration clearly visible in them. Liang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly as he heard Yin Weijing talk about Sun Cailin. She was on the verge of breaking into the Thousand-Hearts Fiend Emperor and the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realms meaning that she was on the verge of reaching the Transcended Immortal realm in body and soul cultivation. If he had to beat her to receive the full Lightning God Physique technique, things would become very difficult.
But there was no point in worrying about that now. After all, it wasn't certain that he had to beat her to receive the technique, he might be lucky and never have to even meet her. He and Yan Ling continued to chat with Yin Weijing, occasionally talking with some of the other passengers as well. No bandits were foolish enough to attempt ambushing the Tripartite Ship, so their journey was smooth and unimpeded.
Two days before they arrived at Ten Thousand Hearts city, Yin Weijing suggested that they leave the Tripartite Ship for a moment, wanting to show Liang Chen and Yan Ling a stunning sight. They had nothing to lose, and Yan Ling really wanted to see this 'stunning sight' so they agreed and left the ship for a short moment with him. And once they left the ship, Liang Chen saw a sight that filled him with immense awe, and even some dread.
The ship was currently at the top of a hill, a small forest spreading out in front of them at the foot of the hill. In the distance, they were able to see Ten Thousand Hearts city, as well as the two other cities that connected with it and formed a triangle. But what caught Liang Chen and Yan Ling's attention were the three massive towers located at the center of the cities.
Each tower looked to be at least two or three thousand kilometers in width and were at least three times as tall. Each tower was ivory white in color and ended in a sharp tip that pierced the cloudless sky, an incredibly dominating sight. But it wasn't the sheer size of the towers that shocked them, it was what the towers were made of. Each tower was made from a single fang, they weren't shaped like fangs, they were fangs. Just what sort of monster could have fangs this large, just how large mustn't the Demonic beast that shed these fangs be? And just how did such fangs end up here? Had someone actually killed such a Demonic beast and placed the fangs here?
He asked Yin Weijing, but even he had no idea where these fangs had come from, they had apparently been here as long as recorded history. If anyone knew where they came from, they hadn't made that information public. They could only put the question aside for now, catching up with the ship and entering it again. In two days they would reach Ten Thousand Hearts city, and then Liang Chen and Yan Ling would enter the towers to join the bloody arenas.